Zombie mods The Dark Carnival.. Roll up, roll up !.

[ALXAndy]

And so it begins...

 

 

Part list. Please note - I may or may not use this stuff, this is just what I have to hand.

 

Bitfenix Colossus Venom Edition. (ordered)

AMD FX 8320 

Asus R.O.G Crosshair V Formula Z (ordered)

8GB Mushkin Blackline Frostbyte

Corsair H100

Palit GTX 670 "Jetstream" X2

Power supply - still deciding.

Pioneer DVDRW

Sony DVDRW

OCZ Revodrive PCIE SSD 120GB

Intel 320 Series SSD 80GB

5x500 Seagate Pipeline HDD

 

Fans. I'm not sure what will be used yet or where.

 

2 X Cougar Vortex PWM 120mm

2 x Xilence Red Wing PWM 120mm

2 X Arctic F12 120mm

 

1 X Xilence Red Wing 92mm

3 x Arctic F9 92mm

1 x Thermaltake 92mm

1 x Xilence Red Wing 80mm

4 X Corsair 120mm

 

Asst.

One pile of fan grills. 4 X orange LED strips. Full set of black braided cables.

 

More to come, watch this space

[Lil Chillbil]

Very cool 

[alpenwasser]

This case totally fits you!

[Youbetternot]

Looks awesome

[prolemur]

I love the look of that case, I would have got it but it wasn't in stock anywhere for a reasonable price (the blue led one)

[ALXAndy]

This case totally fits you!

 

Yup. DOZE LITES. lol

 

I was looking around at cases and PSUs. I had in mind either the 200R or Enermax Ostrog. Both are £40 entry level. Any way, there's this place on Amazon who basically buy Amazon's returns that have had the seal broken and, well, there it was - £60 delivered.

 

It would have been rude not to tbh. This is a £140 case.

 

It means the PSU must wait for a week but I'm still waiting on the board and CPU any way.

[alpenwasser]

£60 delivered. It would have been rude not to tbh. This is a £140 case.

That really is quite a bargain.

[ALXAndy]

Yeah for sure man. And I need room dude with the amount of kit I have. Even the thought of trying to stuff it all in an entry level case was depressing.

 

They would have both needed modding just to take the cooler.

[ALXAndy]

Right, so build log post #1. It's time to gut the Alienware. There's a lot of valuable bits and pieces in it so I want it out, cleaned and ready.

 

First up here is the state of my desk. Note - I HATE MESS and I HATE CLUTTER.

 

 

Honestly, it's my worst nightmare. So first was removing the H100. I have the Xilence on here and they'll most likely stay here

 

 

Time for some cleaning with my trusty tooth brush.

 

 

Bit better, but will need to be cleaned more thoroughly

 

 

All cleaned and packed.

 

 

A few fans, some cables I braided and some pre braided cables.

 

 

GPU shot !

 

 

And the A51. I put the F12s in here and will get around to testing it one day.

 

 

More to come later (after Match of the day !)

[ALXAndy]

I love the look of that case, I would have got it but it wasn't in stock anywhere for a reasonable price (the blue led one)

 

They were quite rare in the USA and Canada mate. They're mainly distributed through Caseking which is based in Germany, so it was mainly the EU that got them. I have a friend in Maryland and he tried for ages to get hold of one but failed. I don't even know if they were ever available through Newegg tbh.

 

You can pick up the white one for around £100 now. They were discontinued quite a while back here. The cooling isn't great but I have a few ideas for that. It's an enormous case tbh so I'm going to have to think big for cooling.

[ALXAndy]

Good afternoon every one I hope you're all keeping well

 

Not much to report today, as I am still waiting for my board and CPU to ship out. I think there's a delay on the FX 8320 so I just have to wait it out. So the only thing that came today was the cheap tube of thermal paste I ordered as an add on.

 

 

I know, nothing much to get excited about. However, I may have a sponsor ! so I will talk a bit more about that later. For today it's back to the Alienware for more emptying and cleaning. Then I will put it to one side until I can bring myself to buy a multi meter and start testing it.

 

Oh and behold my work horse - my M11X. It's had cola spilled in it, half of the keys stick when you use them but it's still going

[TheSLSAMG]

Good afternoon every one I hope you're all keeping well

 

Not much to report today, as I am still waiting for my board and CPU to ship out. I think there's a delay on the FX 8320 so I just have to wait it out. So the only thing that came today was the cheap tube of thermal paste I ordered as an add on.

 

 

I know, nothing much to get excited about. However, I may have a sponsor ! so I will talk a bit more about that later. For today it's back to the Alienware for more emptying and cleaning. Then I will put it to one side until I can bring myself to buy a multi meter and start testing it.

 

Oh and behold my work horse - my M11X. It's had cola spilled in it, half of the keys stick when you use them but it's still going

 

I have that same paste. It is 9 years old

[ALXAndy]

Yeah it's got a template for some really old sockets

 

I'll see how it is. If it's crap then I'll just get a refund.

[ALXAndy]

 

I didn't even have to use my AK

 

 

I gotta say it was a good day.

[ALXAndy]

Now I'm starting to remember all of the things I need. I want to put a Molex into the PCIE lanes. You don't have to, but it helps with stability when running more than one GPU. I decided on red. That way I will be able to see it and won't yank it out by accident.

 

 

And say hello to my new friend This is Dolly the snow bengal

 

[Quantum]

Very nice so far

[alpenwasser]

Well, the kitty certainly seems to be comfy

[ALXAndy]

Yeah she knows how to make herself comfy

 

I'm not a stranger to her. She was my cat originally when I lived with my mother but she bonded very closely with Mum so I decided to leave her with Mum and bring Rapunzel here (my other bengal girl). Sadly Rapunzel starting weeing everywhere (on the mail most of the time) so I had to get rid of her she was rehomed with a lady

 

I brought Dolly home with me after recent events (as you know dude) as Mum didn't think she would be able to look after her.

 

Back to the log ! The case is out for delivery with Fedex so yay to that

[ALXAndy]

And then there was case ! So after heaving this thing into the house I sat back to catch my breath.

 

 

What I noticed first was that the tape along the top had never been cut. So I had a look underneath and nope, never been cut either. Judging by how dusty the top was I figured that this could have just been sat in a warehouse somewhere. Maybe bankrupt stock? who knows?. Any way, it was a lot to wish for to get a Colossus Venom for £60 delivered (by Fedex I may add) so I still had an air of trepidation. Time to cut the tape then.

 

 

At first glance the front seemed OK. I was worried it may be broken as there was a lot of rattling coming from the case as I lifted the box up. Time to lay it down and start heaving..

 

 

HNNNNGGGG

 

 

And at last it was free ! nice to know I got a manual as I have seen many reviews say that it was missing.

 

 

Time to stand it up. *heaves some more*

 

 

Quick inspection of the front.

 

 

And carefully start to unwrap this monster.

 

 

NEKKID.

 

 

Open the door up to check for any damage.

 

 

And it all seemed OK and certainly never used. I guess the company were just covering themselves. So now I was getting happier

 

 

And finally the inside. Everything was out of place. Mind you I can't say I'm surprised, this case is really big and really heavy. Time for a cage count.. Yup, they're all there

 

 

And the accessory box, which was unopened too.

 

 

A look inside. Not much to write home about but nice to see the self adhesive cable holsters.

 

 

Quick look over the back.

 

 

And the top.

 

 

And the unboxing and inspection was complete. I've had a quick look over the manual so now I am planning out what is going to go where from a cooling aspect. I think I will use the original Corsair fans on the rad, given that they won't really be visible and then use the Xilence Red Wing 120mms in the floor and rear. This will then go with the red and black on the board.

 

More to come soon ! the board and CPU have shipped but they shipped second class so should be here tomorrow. I'll probably go back to bed soon as I've had 4.5 hours sleep and my wonderful lady has had 3.5. We're both pretty ratty today lol

 

Cheers !

[alpenwasser]

Ah yes, unpacking new stuff. One of my favorite pastimes

[ALXAndy]

Ah yes, unpacking new stuff. One of my favorite pastimes

 

I wouldn't mind dude but it's SO HEAVY. Jesus Christ on a bike is it heavy. When building a PC I will unpack it, fit like, one fan, then repack it all again lmao. I nearly dropped it trying to get it back in. I think I'm going to have to change my modus operandi with this one and just leave it out of the box and put the wrapping back on to keep out the dust..

 

BTW. Incoming PM !

[alpenwasser]

Haha, they don't actually have a weight listed on their website, but judging

from its size and the fact that it's steel/plastic I wouldn't be surprised at

20 kg or more.

[ALXAndy]

Well thankfully most of the weight is in the side panels. They weigh a ton ! 

 

So work continues. I just spent a couple of hours wrestling with it, here's what I got up to Off came the side panels.

 

 

Then the front (this was a nightmare. Tight as a mosquito's anal passage).

 

 

Flip it upside down in order to fit an intake fan.

 

 

Remove the filter.

 

 

Now I had a few choices here. Sadly the push side of the fan is pretty ugly.....

 

 

So instead of putting the filter back in situ I decided to do this.

 

 

Now obviously it still looks a tad pants, but it works two fold. 1 - it looks fine with normal light (flash makes it look terrible) and 2 - I will be able to get to the filter in order to remove and clean it. Had I put it back on the bottom I would have had to turn a very heavy PC upside down to clean it. Not good. I put the rear fan in, though again flash doesn't help. Sadly it's getting dark now so it's pink or nothing (but they are a nice red, honest !)

 

 

Time to remove the top to fit the rad and fans.

 

 

Like the Survivor this is a total nightmare. Bitfenix saw fit to basically wire everything onto the top and then wire it through the case. This could have all been avoided by splitting the top control area and leaving it screwed down, then making the top to sit flush over it. They did the same with the Survivor and it really pissed me the fuck off when building. I had the top off that about twenty times and each time had to fuck around with a load of wires.

 

Rad fans fitted.

 

 

And into the case.

 

 

The rad looks tiny in there

 

 

DVD drive in.

 

 

Yeah I know, but I still use mine daily.. Games on actual physical discs are cheaper than downloads,and I don't have unlimited downloads on my ISP. Right now a note on cable management. Bitfenix saw fit to fit the front intake fan like this.

 

 

Which is annoying, as it makes routing the cable harder. It isn't long enough to be hidden properly, so time to take it out and then turn it and put it back.

 

 

Much better, now I can hide it properly. Now to reroute all of the annoying cables that could have stayed in place with a little thinking..

 

 

And the top was back on. Now for one thing I do like. Off came the door.

 

 

Then the hinges.

 

 

And about ten minutes later, tadaaaaa

 

 

Until next time

[ALXAndy]

Hurrah !

 

 

 

This was disappointing. It seems in order to save money AMD have stopped issuing the lovely tin boxes for their 8 core CPUs and have reduced it to cardboard

 

Thankfully I still have my tin box from the first 8320 I had.

 

 

Time for a bit of ROG action....

 

 

It's been years since I owned a high end motherboard. My last truly high end board was an EVGA 680i. Opening up the front cover teases you with a shot of the board itself, safely nestled under a plastic cover.

 

 

Goodies time ! now I'll admit I've never used the SATA cables that come boxed with a board before. However this time around I think I will. Asus have done a great job of making the bundle feel as special as it should IMO.

 

 

Time for a look at the board. I'll admit, I sat and stared at it for about five minutes, slowly moving my eyes around it. There's just so much to take in. Sadly it seems that due to the layout I will have to hack run SLI to run X16 X4 due to my Revodrive, but that's OK because I've already done a dry run on SLI like that and you lose next to nothing.

 

 

And then it was time to put it all away and wait on more parts and cables. I'm not in a rush to do this so it will take a while

[alpenwasser]

That's a really nice board!